Comnr.Of Cen.Excise vs. Rourkela Fabrication

Held

The Court held that in view of the Circular dated July 11, 2018, issued by the CBIC, which stipulated a monetary limit of Rs. 50,00,000/- for filing appeals before the High Court, the present appeal, with a tax effect of less than Rs. 50 lac, was no longer maintainable. The Court reasoned that the instruction was to reduce government litigation and applied to pending cases. Therefore, the appeal was disposed of. The Court granted liberty to the appellant to revive the appeal in case of difficulty. No specific finding was made on the merits of the original CESTAT order.

Facts

The appeal was filed by the Department against an order dated April 5, 2006, passed by the CESTAT, Kolkata. The tax effect in dispute was stated to be less than Rs. 50 lac. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) issued a Circular on July 11, 2018, in exercise of powers under Section 35R of the Central Excise Act, 1944, which was made applicable to Service Tax vide Section 83 of the Finance Act, 1994. This circular raised the monetary limits for filing appeals by the Department before various forums, including High Courts, to Rs. 50,00,000/-. The instruction applied to legacy issues and pending cases.

Key Issues

1. Whether the appeal filed by the Department is maintainable before the High Court given the monetary limit stipulated in the CBIC Circular dated July 11, 2018? (Question of law turning on Section 35R of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and Section 83 of the Finance Act, 1994). The Department argued that the circular, by raising the monetary limit for filing appeals before the High Court to Rs. 50,00,000/-, rendered the present appeal, with a tax effect of less than Rs. 50 lac, non-maintainable. The Department contended that the appeal should be disposed of in light of this new instruction. No specific arguments were recorded for the respondent.